Graduation Events Celebrate Isenberg and Its Students

May 14, 2014

Isenberg students accounted for 1/5 of UMass Amherst's graduating class at its 2014 Undergraduate Commencement ceremony on May 9th. At the vibrant gathering in McGuirk Stadium, the 1,132 Isenberg grad

Isenberg students accounted for 1/5 of UMass Amherst's graduating class at its 2014 Undergraduate Commencement ceremony on May 9th. At the vibrant gathering in McGuirk Stadium, the 1,132 Isenberg graduates and their UMass Amherst peers heard keynote speaker and Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick espouse community service and outline highlights of his administration's "green" initiatives.

Isenberg senior Brian Heacox '14 was honored as one of two graduating Jack Welch Scholars, a prestigious 4-year award reserved for students from Isenberg and the College of Engineering.  The Operations and Information Management graduate will begin work as a project manager this summer at CFN Services, a Washington, DC-based technology start-up.

John F. Kennedy '76 M.S. (Accounting) received a Distinguished Achievement Award at the ceremony. A long-time major donor to Isenberg, including gifts of endowed scholarships, the Isenberg alumnus retired in 2008 as president of Nova Ventures Corporation in Woburn, where he had also been CFO. Nova is a leader in test and measurement analytics instruments and services.

Isenberg Senior Celebration

The next morning, over 1000 students and 6000 family members and friends gathered in the Mullins Center for the school's annual Senior Celebration.

Master of ceremonies and undergraduate associate dean Linda Shea introduced student speaker Derek Monson '14, who emphasized the collective, shared experiences and accomplishments of his classmates. Correlation may not equal causation, said the marketing major, but "I would say the correlation is quite strong that we helped Isenberg become the [nation's] most improved business school in four years." After offering shout-outs to each Isenberg major and commending all of his classmates for helping to create the first Isenberg Women's Conference, Monson urged his peers to "continue to push boundaries to make change while challenging the status quo."

Later at the event, Mark Fuller, Isenberg's dean, recalled his relationship with Gene Isenberg '50, who had died in March. Conversations with Gene, Fuller told the audience, helped him to appreciate the importance of the school's reputational capital, which under Fuller's stewardship has increased dramatically through skyrocketing national rankings. Gene Isenberg, the dean added, also motivated him to effect real rather than hypothetical outcomes and to provide the glue and motivation for his team to excel.

For more pictures of Senior Celebration visit Isenberg's Facebook. 

Graduate Student Commencement Events. On Friday, Isenberg MBA, M.S., and Ph.D. students were honored at a separate ceremony for UMass Amherst graduate students. During the current academic year, nine Isenberg Ph.D. candidates and 400 MBA and M.S. candidates qualified for degrees. An increasing number of MBA degree recipients are from Isenberg's fast-growing online program. Many of those graduates, who live at considerable geographic distance from Amherst, met their professors offline for the first time at a festive MBA gathering the night before.

See more pictures of MBA Commencement events on Facebook: 

Oath Ceremony, Reception, and Graduation.